I hope you had an amazing summer. Whether you spent your weekends at farmers markets, festivals, art shows, community events, or maybe took a little time away from markets altogether, I hope the last few months were good for you and your business. And if your summer was a little more unpredictable than you hoped? I hope there were still some wins mixed in there, too. As we head into September, we're entering one of my favorite times of year. Summer markets are beginning to wind down, fall...

If you read our last blog, hopefully you took a little time to reflect on your summer markets. Now it's time for step two. Start planning for the holidays. Here's the hard truth. The vendors who have the smoothest, most profitable holiday seasons are not the ones who work the hardest in November. They're the ones who start early, right about now. That doesn't mean crazy hours. It just means being intentional. Start with what your customers already told you this summer. Look at your top...

If you've been showing up to farmers' markets all summer, first thing to do is just pause. You've earned that. Early mornings, Colorado weather, long days, it's a lot. Now, before you dive headfirst into creating for fall, take a moment and let your customers tell you what's next. What sold out every weekend? What barely moved? What were people asking for that you didn't have? That's free market research and it sets the tone for a strong fall. As you start looking ahead, remember, summer...